twi-ny recommended events

BNLX

BNLX is back for another pair of area shows

Friday, May 20 Piano’s, 158 Ludlow St., 212-505-3733, $7, 8:00
Saturday, May 21 Rock Shop, 249 Fourth Ave., 718-230-5740, $10, 10:30
www.myspace.com/bnlxmusic

As we wrote back in February, whenever a new pop band emerges from the shadows, the music industry rushes to pigeonhole them, but some groups defy categorization. The mysterious BNLX, who surfaced in 2010 in Minneapolis by releasing a series of four-track EPs in plain brown cardboard packages, is one such band. Just a look at the songs they covered on BNLX4 makes you scratch your head in wonder: Can’s “Soul Desert,” Rhianna’s “Shut Up and Drive,” Black Flag’s “Rise Above,” and a smokin’ version of fellow Minneapolis native Prince’s “When Doves Cry.” Led by husband-and-wife-team Ed Ackerson and Ashley Ackerson, who run the Minneapolis label Susstones, BNLX plays joyful pop built around groovy synths and fuzzy guitars, evoking such forerunners as X, the B-52s, Norman Greenbaum, and Cracker in such rave-ups as “Do Without,” “Where Is the Love,” and “Frogger.” The impossibly infectious “Blue and Gold” is one of the most beautifully crafted pop songs of last year; when Ed sings, “I’ve been here before,” you might think you have too, but you haven’t. The BNLX First One Year Plan continues with the release of BNLX5, another outstanding collection of fine tunage, described by the band as “four ‘music’ compositions expressing Nordic, Gallic, Tri State, and West Coast idioms.” The quartet of power-pop gems are laden with catchy hooks; Ed Ackerson even channels Morrissey on the too-cool “Garbage Strike.” The EP concludes with a ridiculously amazing version of Ice Cube’s “It Was a Good Day” that we’ve had on repeat play all week. BNLX, consisting of e.a., a.a., knobby, and blinky, will be at Piano’s on May 20 at 10:00 with Kleenex Girl Wonder (8:00), Thunder and Lightning (9:00), Creepoid (11:00), Fantan (12 midnight), and Arpline (1:00) and at the Rock Shop in Brooklyn on May 21 with Black Onassis. We can’t wait for BNLX6.

KNICKERBOCKER

Bob Dishy and Alexander Chaplin play father and son in Jonathan Marc Sherman’s warmly inviting KNICKERBOCKER (photo by Carol Rosegg)

Anspacher Theater at the Public Theater
425 Lafayette St.
Through May 29, $15
212-967-7555
www.publictheater.org

The Public Theater’s 2010-2011 Public LAB season concludes with Jonathan Marc Sherman’s warmly entertaining, very funny Knickerbocker. On the surface, Knickerbocker would appear to be doomed from the start, a one-set play about a forty-year-old man hanging out in a restaurant, worrying over whether he is ready for fatherhood now that his wife is pregnant. But Sherman and director Pippin Parker work their way in and around the obvious clichés with just the right turns of phrase and small twists, resulting in a smart, insightful ninety minutes. The play takes place in Jerry’s (Alexander Chaplin) favorite diner, where he sits in a half-moon booth facing the audience. Over the course of six months, he meets individually with his wife, Pauline (Mia Barron), best friends Melvin and Chester (Ben Shenkman and Zak Orth), ex-girlfriend Tara (Christina Kirk), and father (Bob Dishy). Each scene cleverly reveals parts of Jerry’s past as he deals with the pressures of his impending future, every character offering different, sometimes conflicting advice. Chaplin is charming as Jerry, remaining calm and sane as Tara flirts with him, Chester tells him to head for the hills, and his dad infuriates him. Dishy nearly steals the show as the soon-to-be grandfather, putting on an acting clinic despite the limiting possibilities. In fact, even though the entire play consists of pairs of people sitting in a confined space, it never gets bogged down or boring. Knickerbocker opens May 19 and continues through May 29, with tickets a mere $15; the May 24 performance will be followed by the panel discussion “Childhood Memories and Grown-up Dreams,” with Sherman and filmmaker Alan Berliner, moderated by Public Theater artistic associate Jocelyn Prince.

THE PROVERBIAL PICTURESHOW: ALL ABOUT EVE

Anne Baxter and Bette Davis put on quite a show in ALL ABOUT EVE (yes, that’s Marilyn Monroe in the center)

ALL ABOUT EVE (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1950)
Cabaret Cinema, Rubin Museum of Art
150 West 17th St. at Seventh Ave.
Friday, May 20, free with $7 bar minimum, 9:30
212-620-5000
www.rmanyc.org/cabaretcinema

Nominated for fourteen Academy Awards and winner of six, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay, All About Eve is one of Hollywood’s all-time greatest movies, a searing depiction of naked ambition set on the Great White Way. Based on Mary Orr’s 1946 short story “The Wisdom of Eve,” writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s flawless drama stars Anne Baxter as Eve Harrington, who is not exactly the mousey wallflower she at first appears to be. She quickly worms her way into an inner circle of Broadway vets populated by superstar Margo Channing (Bette Davis), her younger lover, Bill Sampson (Gary Merrill), playwright and director Lloyd Richards (Hugh Marlowe), and Richards’s wife, Karen (Celeste Holm), who takes Eve under her wing. Joining in on all the fun is powerful theater critic Addison DeWitt (Oscar winner George Sanders), who marvels at all the manipulation and backstage drama, much of which he wickedly orchestrates himself. “There never was, and there never will be, another like you,” DeWitt tells Eve in one of the film’s most poignant moments. All About Eve is filled with classic quotes, including the iconic “Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night,” boldly proclaimed by Davis. In a movie about acting and the theater, Mankiewicz never shows anyone onstage; instead, he focuses on the characters and the intrigue with a sly flair that is deliciously entertaining. All About Eve is screening on May 20 at the Rubin Museum as part of the Proverbial Pictureshow series, being held in conjunction with the Tibet carpet exhibit “Patterns of Life,” and will be introduced by writer Anne Christopherson. Admission to the museum is free on Friday nights, so be sure to check out the other current exhibits as well, which include “Masterworks: Jewels of the Collection,” “Body Language,” “Quentin Roosevelt’s China,” and “The Nepalese Legacy in Tibetan Painting.”

LYKKE LI

Lykke Li lit up Webster Hall on May 17 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Webster Hall
125 East 11th St. between Second & Third Aves.
Wednesday, May 18, $30, 8:00
www.websterhall.com
www.myspace.com/lykkeli

Swedish sensation Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson lit up Webster Hall on May 17, returning to New York City to celebrate the release of her long-awaited second album, Wounded Rhymes (Atlantic, March 1). An intoxicating blend of Stevie Nicks and Sinead O’Connor, the twenty-five-year-old Li and her band were all dressed in black, Li in a shawl covering a bodysuit, her hair tightly pulled back like one of Robert Palmer’s backup singers. On a stage with long black strips of filmy cloth hanging from the ceiling, smoke machines pouring out cloudy mists, and lights continually flashing, Li put on a dazzling seventy-five-minute set that included songs from Rhymes, 2008’s Youth Novels, and such singles as “Possibility,” from the New Moon soundtrack, music steeped in synthesizers and percussion. She played autoharp on the lovely “I Know Places” and added her own percussion to “Rich Kid Blues.” Although far from a melancholic evening, many of her songs deal with loneliness and heartbreak; “Sadness is a blessing / Sadness is a pearl / Sadness is my boyfriend / Oh, sadness, I’m your girl,” she opines on “Sadness Is a Blessing,”and in “Unrequited Love” she wails, “Oh my love, I’ve been denied it / Oh my love is unrequited.” But long before she tore into the set-closing “Get Some,” from the new record, she had the crowd wrapped around her finger like a lonely lover’s charm. Li will be back at Webster Hall on May 18, with Grimes opening up.

JOEY RAMONE BIRTHDAY BASH 2011

Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza
17 Irving Pl. at East 15th St.
Thursday, May 19, $35.25 (with fees), 7:00
www.joeyramone.com
www.livenation.com

Musician, legend, icon . . . New York native Joey Ramone would have been celebrating his sixtieth birthday on May 19, and, as has become a grand local tradition, the eleventh Joey Ramone Birthday Bash will be held that evening at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza. Joey (born Jeffery Hyman) died of lymphoma in 2001, and the annual affair is, as always, a fundraiser benefiting the Joey Ramone Foundation for Lymphoma Research. The festivities, put together each year by Joey’s brother, Mickey Leigh, and a dedicated cast of friends and supporters, are, inevitably, a celebration of everything Ramones, who were honored earlier this year with a lifetime achievement Grammy. Fans from all over the planet have been known to come celebrate Joey’s enduring legacy (as well of that of his now-fallen bandmates Johnny and Dee Dee) and enjoy film clips, interviews, art displays, and plenty of live music. This year’s lineup includes Joey favorite Black 47, Television’s Richard Lloyd, the Rattlers, Holly Beth Vincent, Sunday Masquerade, Bebe Buell, the Incident, and a band led by ex-Strangler Hugh Cornwell with Steven Fishman and Blondie’s Clem Burke, aka Elvis Ramone. The night always concludes with a marathon medley of beloved Ramones songs, from the obscure to the popular, performed by a virtual who’s who of fellow travelers, from an ex-Ramone or two to those who simply share an era, an ethos, or an influence with Forest Hills’ finest. Leigh is also expected to play songs from his brother’s long-rumored solo album. As tradition holds, Sean O’Sullivan’s Punk Pipers ring out the night on bagpipes sometime in the wee hours. “I want to keep it uplifting, so I’m not going to start talking any timelines,” Leigh writes on Joey’s official website. “I think all of us here are well aware of what this year marks. I always want this to be a special occasion, and something for us to be happy about.” And what’s happier than Ramones songs?

A GREAT NIGHT IN HARLEM: TENTH ANNIVERSARY

The Apollo Theater will host the tenth annual “Great Night in Harlem” benefit on May 19

Apollo Theater
253 West 125th St. between Seventh & Eighth Aves.
Thursday, May 19, $55-$1500, 7:00
212-245-3999 ext. 10
www.jazzfoundation.org

Dedicated to helping elder jazz and blues musicians facing medical, financial, legal, and housing crises, the Jazz Foundation of America has been hosting the annual benefit “A Great Night in Harlem” since 2002. Founded in 1989 by Herb Storfer, Ann Ruckert, Cy Blank, Phoebe Jacobs, and Dr. Billy Taylor, the organization handles some five thousand cases a year on its mission of “saving jazz and blues, one musician at a time.” This year’s benefit takes place May 19 at the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem, featuring live performances from across the musical spectrum, including Macy Gray, Dr. John, Lou Reed, Ronnie Spector, Donald Fagen, Christian McBride, Terry Adams, the Hot 8 Brass Band, and surprise guests, produced by Hal Willner. In addition, there will be special appearances by Danny Glover and Michael Imperioli and other Sopranos cast members. The 2011 Dr. Billy Taylor Humanitarian Award will honor financial wizard Michael Novogratz, founder of the nonprofit Beat the Streets, which helps New York City public school students through the sport of amateur wrestling. Tickets for the event begin at $55 for the concert alone and go as high as $1,500 for a preconcert reception and gala dinner and after-party.

TWI-NY TENTH ANNIVERSARY TALK: MEGAN REILLY AND JAMES MASTRO

Megan Reilly will team up with Jim Mastro at twi-ny’s tenth anniversary party on May 18 at Fontana’s (photo by Godlis)

Fontana’s
105 Eldridge St. between Grand & Broome Sts.
Wednesday, May 18, free, 7:00 – 9:30
212-334-6740
www.fontanasnyc.com
www.meganreilly.com
www.guitarbar.com

Born in Memphis and based in New Jersey, alt country folk rocker Megan Reilly has spent much of her career surrounded by some of the tristate area’s finest musicians, including bassist Tony Maimone, drummer Steve Goulding, keyboardist Eric Morrison, and guitarists Tim Foljahn and Jim Mastro. Melding Loretta Lynn with Thin Lizzy on her two fine albums, Arc of Tessa and Let Your Ghost Go, Reilly creates atmospheric moods on such haunting ballads as “With You” and “Nighttime,” gets bluesy on “Tropic on Cancer,” and plays infectious pop hooks on “Girl” and “Let Your Ghost Go.” Hoboken fixture Mastro, who owns the popular Guitar Bar on First St., is the consummate sideman, producer, guitarist, and bandleader whose endless array of gigs have ranged from the Bongos and the Health & Happiness Show to Ian Hunter’s Rant Band and various collaborations and live performances with Syd Straw, Amy Speace, Richard Lloyd, Robert Plant, and many others. Reilly and Mastro have been playing together for much of this decade, and they’ll be teaming up May 18 at twi-ny’s tenth anniversary celebration at Fontana’s, which also includes live performances from Paula Carino and the Sliding Scale and Evan Shinners and readings by Andrew Giangola, Nova Ren Suma, Dean Haspiel, and Kyle Thomas Smith.

twi-ny: You each have collaborated with many different musicians who play very different styles. What’s it like working with each other?

Megan Reilly: Jim’s playing is very lyrical and deep and atmospheric. Playing with him makes me a better singer and player. He tastefully compliments everything I’m doing, which I’m really grateful for.

James Mastro: To me, Megan’s songs are all about emotional landscaping — these stark, bare songs that always have little things flowering in spots. She writes like no one else I know — starting in one direction but then taking a turn in a maze that I wouldn’t have thought of, but still ending up in the right place. Her voice and melodies directly affect the way I play, and are what I play off of; she makes my job easy.

twi-ny: Megan, at the anniversary party you will be playing songs from your next album, which will be recorded this summer. Can you share the titles of some of the new songs? How will the record compare to the sound on your earlier discs?

James Mastro, seen here playing the Hoboken Music & Art Festival with Ian Hunter and R.E.M’s Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey of the Baseball Project, will team up with Megan Reilly at twi-ny’s tenth anniversary bash (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

MR: I’m a mother now. My sister thinks my voice has become more earthy. And I’m singing a lot about floating in water or being swept under it. Part of that is from floating in a pond in Vermont several summers ago with all this sky above me, giving me such comfort at a difficult time when no words could. And part of the theme of water also comes from carrying a child. And there’s the subject of my great aunt who emigrated from Ireland and drowned herself in the East River in the mid-1950s. That one is called “The Lady of Leitrim.” It’s something I’ve wanted to write about for a long time. But despite the nature of that song, I think this is a hopeful and self-assured record. It’s got a lot of strength in the sound of it. Jim is a really confident player.

twi-ny: Everyone talks about the changing indie music scene in Brooklyn, but both of you live in New Jersey. What’s going on these days musically in the Garden State?

JM: Hoboken’s still a thriving scene full of great players, songwriters, and bands. Maxwell’s is still going strong, and there have been more and more DIY guerrilla-style concerts being put on that’s always good for shaking things up and keeping people excited about music.

MR: There are some wonderful places to play here, Outpost in the Burbs and Maxwell’s. Those venues have hosted some of my best recent shows. And the people here really seem to appreciate what we’re doing. I’m really happy here.